The circular relationship between job satisfaction and job performance mediated by psychological capital

Abstract

The present study aims, on the one hand, to verify whether PsyCap as a second-order construct has a higher mediation effect than each of its four components taken as separate mediators (efficacy, hope, resilience, optimism) in the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance. The second objective was to compare two mediation models. In the first model PsyCap mediates the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance and in the second model PsyCap mediates the relationship between job performance and job satisfaction. The participants were 280 employees in Romanian organizations aged between 18 and 68, M = 32.96, AS = 10.10. Three questionnaires were used: Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ), Goodman and Svyantek Performance Scale, and The Generic Job Satisfaction Scale. The results showed that indeed the mediation estimates for PsyCap were higher than the estimates for its four components, regardless of the direction of the satiation-performance relationship. At the same time, through psychological capital, job satisfaction determines an increase in job performance, and job performance determines an increase in job satisfaction.